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Environment variables

Joystick IoT platform uses environment variables to configure services. You can set these in a .env file in the root directory or export them in your shell.

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Global settings

VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
HOSTHostname for Traefik routinglocalhostNo

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Joystick API

The main API service that handles device control and communication.
VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
STREAM_API_URLMediaMTX API endpointhttp://host.docker.internal:9997Yes
POCKETBASE_URLPocketBase database URLhttp://pocketbase:8090Yes
SWITCHER_API_URLSwitcher service URLhttp://switcher:8080Yes
PORTAPI server port8000No
HOSTAPI server host0.0.0.0No
JOYSTICK_API_KEYAPI key for service authenticationdev-api-key-12345Yes (production)

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PocketBase

Database and authentication service.
VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
BAKER_URLBaker service URLhttp://baker:3000Yes
MEDIAMTX_APIMediaMTX API endpointhttp://host.docker.internal:9997Yes
JOYSTICK_API_URLJoystick API URLhttp://joystick:8000Yes
JOYSTICK_API_KEYAPI key to authenticate with Joystickdev-api-key-12345Yes

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Panel UI

Web-based control panel interface.
VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
POCKETBASE_URLPocketBase database URLhttp://pocketbase:8090Yes
PORTPanel server port4000No

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Baker

Video processing and streaming service.
VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
PORTBaker server port3000No
STREAM_API_URLMediaMTX API endpointhttp://host.docker.internal:9997Yes
POCKETBASE_URLPocketBase database URLhttp://pocketbase:8090Yes
JOYSTICK_API_URLJoystick API URLhttp://joystick:8000Yes

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Switcher

Stream switching and health monitoring service.
VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
STREAM_API_URLMediaMTX API endpointhttp://host.docker.internal:9997Yes
POCKETBASE_URLPocketBase database URLhttp://pocketbase:8090Yes
JOYSTICK_API_URLJoystick API URLhttp://joystick:8000Yes
JOYSTICK_API_KEYAPI key to authenticate with Joystickdev-api-key-12345Yes
SLOT_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVALHealth check interval in seconds30No
PORTSwitcher server port8080No

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Whisper

Audio processing and communication service.
VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
STREAM_API_URLMediaMTX API endpointhttp://host.docker.internal:9997Yes
POCKETBASE_URLPocketBase database URLhttp://pocketbase:8090Yes
JOYSTICK_API_URLJoystick API URLhttp://joystick:8000Yes
PORTWhisper server port8081No

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Studio

Production control interface.
VariableDescriptionDefaultRequired
POCKETBASE_URLPocketBase database URLhttp://pocketbase:8090Yes
JOYSTICK_API_URLJoystick API URLhttp://joystick:8000Yes
PORTStudio server port8001No

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Example configuration

Create a .env file in your project root: 
# Global settings
HOST=joystick.example.com

# Security (change these in production!)
JOYSTICK_API_KEY=your-secure-api-key-here

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Service dependencies

Services have the following dependencies:
  • PocketBase: Core database, must start first
  • MediaMTX: Video streaming server, required by most services
  • Joystick API: Depends on PocketBase and MediaMTX
  • Panel, Baker, Switcher, Whisper, Studio: All depend on PocketBase and MediaMTX

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Docker networking

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Standard deployment (docker-compose.yml)

Uses a bridge network (app-network) with service name resolution. Services communicate using internal service names: 
networks:
  app-network:
    driver: bridge
Services reference each other by service name (e.g., http://pocketbase:8090).

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Linux deployment (docker-compose.linux.yml)

Uses host networking for better performance: 
network_mode: host
All services bind directly to the host network interface.

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Development deployment (docker-compose.dev.yml)

Uses bridge networking with exposed ports for debugging: 
ports:
  - "8090:8090"  # PocketBase
  - "9997:9997"  # MediaMTX API
  - "8554:8554"  # RTSP

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Logging configuration

All services use JSON file logging with rotation: 
logging:
  driver: "json-file"
  options:
    max-size: "10m"
    max-file: "3"
This configuration:
  • Limits log files to 10MB each
  • Keeps up to 3 rotated log files per container
  • Uses JSON format for structured logging
See monitoring for log viewing options.

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Volume mounts

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Persistent data

PocketBase data is stored in a Docker volume: 
volumes:
  pb_data:

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Configuration files

MediaMTX configuration is mounted from the host: 
volumes:
  - ./mediamtx/mediamtx.yml:/mediamtx.yml

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Development volumes

In development mode, additional volumes are mounted: 
volumes:
  - ./pocketbase/pb_data:/pb_data
  - ./pocketbase/pb_public:/pb_public
  - ./pocketbase/pb_hooks:/pb_hooks
  - ./pocketbase/pb_migrations:/pb_migrations

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